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I’ve dated men with kids before, but I’ve never shared a moment like this with one before. One where we’re snuggled on the couches, watching a movie at home and feeling like a family.
I like being part of Rob’s family. When I’m here, it feels … right.
The movie ends. Jesse walks himself up to his room with his phone in his hand. Molly has fallen asleep, so Rob gently removes her from the sofa and sends her up to bed. She starts walking up in a zombie-like state with Rob trailing behind her to make sure she doesn’t fall.
I fold the blankets and straighten up the living room. With everything nice and tidy, I head toward my room. I’m near my door when I’m pulled back. Rob is behind me, taking my hand, and he swings me around until I’m face-to-face with him. My hand lands on his chest, and I stare at his Adam’s apple.
I look up. He has no words. Instead, he brands me with a kiss. His lips are warm and soft, his needy tongue begging entrance, and my lips part slowly. Our bodies press together heatedly against the wall. I can taste our shared breaths, feel the thud of our combined heartbeat as we fall deeper into the kiss.
Rob’s hand is on my face. His thumb rubs my cheek as his fingers claim my neck. He pulls back. His chestnut eyes are filled with promise as he kisses me yet again.
“I just couldn’t let you go without a kiss.” As he speaks between kisses, I feel his words against my lips.
“What happened towe can’t do this again with the kids in the house?”
“I was a fool to think I could stay away.” He kisses my jaw, my cheek, and then my forehead. He takes a step back, giving us distance, yet his eyes make me feel like we’re inches apart. “I wish I could stay with you tonight.”
“The fact that you won’t because your children are in the house makes me want you even more. Apparently, hot single dad is catnip for me.”
He blushes. The man actually has the nerve to stand here and blush, making him look so damn cute that I could mount him.
“Good night, Tara.”
I bite my lip, let out a groan, and then let myself into my room, closing the door. My heart is beating rapidly, and my hands are vibrating with the feel of his body still lingering on my skin.
If I’m not careful, I could fall hard for Robert Bronson. In fact, I might have already.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Over the next few days, life moves in an easy flow. Rob comes home earlier than usual from work. Jesse is shocked when Rob says he’s going to take him out for a drive on the highway. We spend the evenings with the kids, playing basketball and board games, and making smores in a firepit in the yard.
At night, Rob and I sit on the front porch and talk. We don’t share more than a few kisses, which is frustrating as hell, yet it’s … nice.
After the bathroom experience, I know he doesn’t have a fear of physical intimacy with me. Although I could definitely go for another countertop rendezvous right about now. Especially when he’s sitting here, looking sexy as hell after his evening shower. His legs are dressed in jeans because the man wears nothing else, apparently. It’s one of the things I like about him.
I’ve never allowed myself this amount of time to get to know someone. Then again, I’ve never lived with someone I hooked up with. Not since Patrick, and we all know how that ended.
Under the soft glow of the moonlight, I’m laughing as Rob recounts tales of his siblings.
“My mother pulled the duvet down, and there was a toad in her bed.”
“That’s awful.” I giggle as I imagine Rob’s mother, a woman I know well because she’s Melissa’s mother-in-law—and kind of a pain in the ass in my opinion—gawking down at her sheets and seeing a slimy toad. “Your brothers were little devils.”
“Brothers? That was the handiwork of my sisters. Never underestimate how evil they can be. I brought a girl home once for dinner. She was very sweet and already nervous to meet my mom. I don’t know if you’ve met my mom, but she can be a bit … opinionated.”
“I have. She seems lovely.”
If I know one thing from being on the dating scene since I’m seventeen, it’s that you never insult a man’s mother even if he is forty years old. At the heart of every man is a mama’s boy who won’t let go.
“The visit was going well until we sat down for dinner, and my girlfriend looked like she was going to gag. My mother asked if she was unhappy with the meal. One look around the table, you could see the eight of us Bronson eating with gusto. This girl just smiled and raved about the cooking, but as she took her next bite, her eyes widened. She kept saying it was good but chased each bite with a huge gulp of water. I thought she was acting weird, and then I saw my sisters turning pink and about to burst out of their skins with laughter. Turned out, they’d kept adding salt to my date’s food until it was inedible.”
The kids are asleep upstairs, so I cover my mouth to control my laughter.
“Please tell me they’re still up to no good. I bet I’d love them.”
“Believe it or not, they’re both super uptight now and pretend they weren’t half as rotten as kids.” He sits back in his seat and looks up at the stars, a sense of wonder in his eyes. “Do you have any siblings?”
“A brother. He’s much older than me. Lives in New York with his wife and kids. He was already in high school when I was born, so we weren’t close. That’s probably why I’ve always been so close with friends. I never had the kind of sibling I could get into trouble with or confide in.”
